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how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2022 3:38 am
by harmonicaman
In Audacity I know and in reaper I know how to find where clipping occurs but not in DP

Can any body kindly tell me how I can know about any part of my audio clipping?


Thanks , Sorry I ask many questions :)

Re: how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2022 10:00 am
by stubbsonic
This is a really good question. My way is to watch the meters WHEN I RECORD. A red clipping indicator shows that the recording was clipped, and I start over.

But I don't know if there's a way to tell if an existing track has clipping in it. It would be very useful!

Re: how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 12:11 am
by harmonicaman
stubbsonic wrote: Sat Feb 12, 2022 10:00 am This is a really good question. My way is to watch the meters WHEN I RECORD. A red clipping indicator shows that the recording was clipped, and I start over.

But I don't know if there's a way to tell if an existing track has clipping in it. It would be very useful!
That is very strange how can a DAW not to have a function to show if there is any clipping in audio

When you say watching the meter what meter do you mean ?

Re: how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 4:45 am
by greg328
The audio meter— it should always be visible when recording to monitor input levels-to avoid clipping. Recording 101 stuff-


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Re: how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 6:04 am
by harmonicaman
greg328 wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 4:45 am The audio meter— it should always be visible when recording to monitor input levels-to avoid clipping. Recording 101 stuff-


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You are talking about this tiny , small area ? I have to keep an eye on this while recording?

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Re: how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 7:07 am
by James Steele
You can also see meters in the mixing board, and they are larger than that. They will stay lit after a clip so you don’t have to just sit there and watch them. They stay lit until cleared there are also plenty of third-party metering plugs. But almost all of them have a clip/hold function.

Re: how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 7:52 am
by stubbsonic
It would be useful if there was a "stats" window for an audio file that showed the peak level --- and if the peak is zero, it might be useful to show if there are consecutive samples at peak (i.e. clips), or "likely clipped". But with the way DP does regions, it might be tricky.

Re: how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 8:15 am
by James Steele
I think I misunderstood the question initially. I was thinking of mixdown, where sometimes I’ll even put a safety limiter on just to catch anything that might briefly clip. That’s kind of assuming you’re doing your own mastering, because from what I’ve heard, if you’re going to send it to somebody else to master, you want to leave plenty of headroom.

As far as tracking goes, again, from what I understand, especially when recording at 24 bits, you shouldn’t be coming anywhere close to zero, but I imagine there could be transients.

Re: how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 9:25 pm
by stubbsonic
Let's say you receive audio recorded by someone else. And you want to see if the track has some clipping in it. Some audio editors will just show you those stats. I've seen some show the clips as red vertical lines. (It would be tedious to have to play a whole track and stare at meters to see if/when it clips.

Re: how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 9:56 pm
by harmonicaman
stubbsonic wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 9:25 pm Let's say you receive audio recorded by someone else. And you want to see if the track has some clipping in it. Some audio editors will just show you those stats. I've seen some show the clips as red vertical lines. (It would be tedious to have to play a whole track and stare at meters to see if/when it clips.
Exactly . I am very much confused how a DAW that important does not have that functionality or is it because there are a lot of different ideas about clipping and the programmers of this software do not care much about clipping?

Re: how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 12:50 am
by James Steele
harmonicaman wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 9:56 pm
stubbsonic wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 9:25 pm Let's say you receive audio recorded by someone else. And you want to see if the track has some clipping in it. Some audio editors will just show you those stats. I've seen some show the clips as red vertical lines. (It would be tedious to have to play a whole track and stare at meters to see if/when it clips.
Exactly . I am very much confused how a DAW that important does not have that functionality or is it because there are a lot of different ideas about clipping and the programmers of this software do not care much about clipping?
You know, I don't think that's the case that they don't care. Why not just stick with Reaper if Digital Performer is inadequate for your needs?

Re: how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 1:01 am
by Michael Canavan
harmonicaman wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 9:56 pm
stubbsonic wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 9:25 pm Let's say you receive audio recorded by someone else. And you want to see if the track has some clipping in it. Some audio editors will just show you those stats. I've seen some show the clips as red vertical lines. (It would be tedious to have to play a whole track and stare at meters to see if/when it clips.
Exactly . I am very much confused how a DAW that important does not have that functionality or is it because there are a lot of different ideas about clipping and the programmers of this software do not care much about clipping?
Because if you record into DP and it clips it overloads the fader and you get a solid red square at the top. If you import in clipped audio.... I don't know what to tell you? don't do that. If you're worried about audio recorded elsewhere that might have clipped audio in it, well, you already mentioned the solution and it's free, Audacity. This is what I would call a non issue, but apparently that's how it goes. I don't think I've every seen a DAW forum that doesn't have some person popping in to talk about some feature that they deem glorious that the DAW doesn't have or does badly in their minds.

Re: how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 1:31 am
by harmonicaman
James Steele wrote: Mon Feb 14, 2022 12:50 am
harmonicaman wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 9:56 pm
stubbsonic wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 9:25 pm Let's say you receive audio recorded by someone else. And you want to see if the track has some clipping in it. Some audio editors will just show you those stats. I've seen some show the clips as red vertical lines. (It would be tedious to have to play a whole track and stare at meters to see if/when it clips.
Exactly . I am very much confused how a DAW that important does not have that functionality or is it because there are a lot of different ideas about clipping and the programmers of this software do not care much about clipping?
You know, I don't think that's the case that they don't care. Why not just stick with Reaper if Digital Performer is inadequate for your needs?
Yes actually I am only using reaper and as I had Motu interface and the performer lite comes with it and as upgrading to digital performer entitled me to substantial discount I play around with performer lite . I have put off upgrading until I am sure it is easy for me to work with it.

I like the interface of performer lite and I am sure there are things it can do that should be better than reaper and it is due to my lack of knowledge so I will keep playing with it for now.


Thanks any way for your help. Please bear with me :)

Re: how to know if there is any clipping in my audio?

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 9:06 am
by HCMarkus
If we get audio that's clipped from someone else, we're most likely going to have to work with it regardless. If distortion is audible we'll mask it, perhaps with EQ or more distortion, or run it thru a de-clipper program like iZotope RX before mixing.

When recording our own audio, most around these parts will record at 24 bits or 32 bit float (both of which have a far higher dynamic range that any analog gear), and we'll make sure to set out input levels so as to leave ample headroom (6dB+ for me) to handle any peaks that arise when the recording is happening and performer excitement (and volume) levels tend to rise.

I leave the Audio Monitor window open on a sidebar at all times; if I see a red box next to an input, I know I've got to adjust the level for that input. If a track is low in volume after recording, it is an easy matter to increase Bite Gain or add a Trim plugin to bring the level up.